Sensory Play – Autumn

We are about to head into Autumn – we’ve had some misty mornings and the evenings are drawing in so here are some ideas for touchy-feely, smelly, noisey, visual and tasty autumnal sensory play activities.

Sight

Look at leaves, watch them changing colours from green, to yellow, orange, red and brown

Stand and watch as leaves fall from the trees in the breeze down to the ground.

Collect the ‘aeroplanes’ from sycamore trees and watch them spinning as they fall to the ground.

Smell

When out for your walk, encourage your children to sniff the air, can they smell the dampness of the autumn mist?

Pick up fallen leaves and smell those – do different types of leaves smell the same? What about the damp ones and the dry ones?

Sound

Listen to the sounds of the leaves crunching under your feet

Talk about the sounds this makes and what things make similar sounds; for example, rustling like a paper bag.

Taste

Have fun tasting the fruits and vegetables of the season.

Make pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins or soup.

Taste apples – make apple crumble or try different types of apple juice.

Feel the bumps of the leaf’s veins – you could collect some and take them home and do wax crayon rubbings or leaf printing with paint. To do leaf rubbings, put the leaf under a thin sheet of paper and rub gently using the side of a crayon, small children might find it easier if the leaf and the paper were attached to the work surface so that they don’t move whilst they are trying to colour. To make leaf prints simply dip your leaves into a plate of paint and then press onto the paper.

Feel the spiky conker outer cases and the smoothness of the inside and the conker itself

Hopefully, this article has given you some ideas of how to make this season a sensory learning experience. Remember, that seasonal sensory play is only limited by your imagination! Check out our other season sensory play posts – winter, spring and summer or our sensory play series focusing on the five different aspects sight, smell, sound, taste and touch for more sensory play ideas.